Polish Briefing: The merger of PKN Orlen and Lotos should cost as little as possible

What goes on in Poland on the 22nd of March.

Tchórzewski: The merger of PKN Orlen and Lotos should cost as little as possible

Leading the “least expensive” merger of PKN Orlen and Lotos is currently the most important task for the management boards of both companies – informed the energy minister Krzysztof Tchórzewski during the “Tweetup” at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister.

“Currently, the most important issue that stands before the management boards (Orlen and Lotos) is the merger and the least expensive,” Tchórzewski told reporters.

At the end of February, PKN Orlen and the State Treasury signed a letter of intent regarding the takeover of capital control by PKN Orlen over Grupa Lotos, through acquisition – directly or indirectly – a minimum of 53 percent of Lotos shares. By signing the document, Orlen and the State Treasury undertook to enter into talks aimed at conducting the transaction.

Nord Stream 2 can be subject to sanctions

I welcome the today’s US State Department statement on sanctions that may be encountered by companies involved in the Nord Stream II project – Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. The Minister of Energy, Krzysztof Tchórzewski quoted on Twitter, said it was an important US declaration. – Nord Stream 2 – a gas pipeline threatening the security of Europe, may be subject to sanctions – said the Minister.

According to the Prime Minister Morawiecki, the draft gas pipeline underpins “European energy security leading to the monopolisation of gas supplies and threatens Ukraine – it should be detained”.

On Tuesday evening US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said that companies that are involved in the Nord Stream II project can “expose themselves to sanctions under CAATSA (the law on opposing America’s opponents through sanctions)”.

Last week, on March 15, 2018, in a letter sent to US Treasury minister Steven Mnuchin, 39 US senators, both Republicans and Democrats, declared their objections to the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany on the Baltic seabed.